Appliance for practicing golf.



G. M. TREADWBLL. APPLIANCE FOR PRAGTIGING GOLF.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT.27, 1907.

Patented Sept. 15, 1908.

THE mmms P rsRs CLAUDE MALLAM TREADWELL, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

APPLIANCE FOR PRAOTICING GOLF.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 15, 1908.

Application filed September 27, 1907. Serial No. 394,905.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, CLAUDE MALLAM TREADWELL, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at 5 Westbourne road, Forest Hill, London, England, have invented new and useful Improvements in or Relating to Ap liances for Practicing Golf, of which the f0 owing is a specification.

My invention relates to an apparatus chiefly designed for use by golfers to afford opportunity for practicing upon bowlinggreens, tennis-courts and other lawns that part of the game of golf which is known as putting without spoiling such lawns for the purpose for which they are ordinarily used, the object of my invention being to provide a device which, as far as concerns ac curacy of aim and correct strength of stroke, will afford all the conditions, as far as may be, which present themselves when a player is holding a ball on a green.

My improved device however also afiords an interesting pastime which may induce golfers to practice that most important part of the game of golf and provide an entertainment for others who take an interest in lawn games.

My improved device consists essentially of a crescent or other shaped plate or rim adapted to be secured to the ground by means of a pin or peg and inclined so as to afford a certain amount of resistance to the passage of a ball over it, and a pendent arm which is combined with the plate in such a manner as to form with it a complete or ractically complete circle, the said penc ent arm being adapted to yield by the contact of a ball with it when entering the hole.

To enable my invention to be fully understood I will describe the same by reference to the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a plan view of my im roved device, and Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a perspective view illustrating the operation and Fig. 4 is a side view. Fig. 5 is a view of a modification of my invention.

(1 indicates a plate of metal or other material which is approximately of crescent shape and which has a length of say two-thirds of the circumference of the circle representing the golf hole, the said plate being inclined and being of the greatest depth at the central portion and gradually becoming shallower towards the sides as clearly shown in the drawing. In practice I have found it advantageous to incline the central part of the plate to an angle of from 40 to and to gradually reduce the inclination until the points or horns of the crescent are almost on a level with the ground as shown in Fig. 4, the object of this formation being to retain as far as possible the attributes of a hole in the ground so that the holing out or correct placing of the ball shall depend upon accuracy of aim and correct strength of stroke. This plate a is adapted to be secured to the ground in such a manner that it may be readily turned so as to bring the opening between the horns of the crescent immediately opposite to the ball to be layed. As shown in the drawing the said p ate a has attached to it an arm I) provided at the extremity with a pin or peg c which can be pressed into the ground and which is arranged centrally rglatively with the circumference of the said ate. P d is the pendent arm which is advantageously somewhat in the form of an inverted T as shown in Fig. 2, the vertical portion 6 of the said arm being pivotally mounted upon a frame f While the lateral portions are curved to approximately correspond with the contour of the inner edge of the plate a. This pendent arm, which practically completes the hole, serves two purposes, viz., it determines whether the ball is holed out or not, that is to say whether it has passed the line of circumference of the imaginary hole in the ground (for unless the ball has passed inside the pendent arm another stroke has to be played to hole out) and it also holds the ball on the front side when holed out so that should the apparatus be placed upon sloping ground the ball having been holed out is trapped and cannot roll back as it otherwise might do on a fast green or as would be the case when a slow ball has lipped or caught the side of the hole and curved outwards.

The frame f which carries the pendent arm is advantageously formed of stout wire which is attached to the plate a and formed with two upright portions g, g, which are bowed or looped outwardly so that they will allow the passage of a ball which travels just wide of the hole without the risk of the ball striking the uprights and glancing off them into the hole, and with a horizontal loop or how 7b to the center of which the pendent arm is directly pivoted and which is carried back sufliciently far to support the said pendent arm in its proper position relatively with the plate a. As hereinbefore stated, when using the apparatus it is turned so that the opening between the horns of the plate a is opposite the T or starting point of the players ball.

In practice a series of the devices say, for instance, nine may be arranged upon a lawn at suitable distances apart; one or more of the devices may also be placed on an incline and the conditions of play in such case are as nearly as possible the same as when putting on golf links, for example, if the appliance is set upon an incline sloping away from the player the incline has the effect of exaggerating the slant of the rim a so that under these conditions the ball has to be played with great care as is the case with a downhill putt on golf links.

I sometimes surmount the frame f by a thin sheet of metal '5 fastened to the curved wire it of the frame f, the said metal sheet being adapted to afford a space on which can be painted, stamped or otherwise applied a number or other indication. I also advantageously construct the vertical portion 6 of the pendent arm with an extension 3' so that when the said pendent arm swings inward the inward movement is limited by the impingement of the extension j against the plate i, as clearly shown in Fig. 4.

A variation of the invention to enable the game. to be played on a carpet or matted floor or the like is the substitution for the spike c of a disk or fiat metal ring :1; adapted to revolve on another disk or ring a; secured to the carpet or matting by means of short pins y.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention and in what manner the same is to be per- 4 formed, I declare that what I claim is 1. An apparatus for imitating a hole in the ground for practicing golf comprising a plate or rim adapted to be secured to the ground and having an opening at one part and a 4 pendent arm combined with the said plate so as to form with it a complete or practically complete circle, the said plate being inclined sov as to afford a certain amount of resistance to the passage of a ball over it and 5 the pendent arm being adapted to yield by the contact of a ball with it, substantially as described.

2. In an apparatus or appliance for use in practicing golf the combination of a crescent 5 shaped rim of metal or the like, a frame carrying a pendent arm designed to form with the crescent a practically complete circle and a pin or spike for allowing of the device being turned to any position, substan- 6 tially as described.

3. In an apparatus or appliance for use in practicing golf the combination of a crescent shaped rim of metal or the like, a frame carrying a pendent arm designed to form with 6 the crescent a practically complete circle, a central pin or spike for allowing of the device being turned to any position and an indicator plate secured to the said frame, substantially as described.

CLAUDE llIAIITAAlll TREADWELL.

Witnesses:

JOHN E. BOUSFIELD A. ALB TT. 

